St. Croix, USVI - District Court Senior Judge Raymond L. Finch, on Jan. 31, 2017, sentenced Ramon Lacen-Santiago, 41, of Puerto Rico, to 10 months in prison for bulk cash smuggling, United States Attorney Ronald W. Sharpe announced. Judge Finch ordered Lacen-Santiago to serve half of his sentence in prison and half in home confinement. He also sentenced Lacen-Santiago to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay a $2,000 fine and a special assessment of $100.
On March 25, 2012, agents of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force received information that a co-defendant of Lacen-Santiago would be travelling with large sums of money through St. Croix Airport. During a security check of Lacen-Santiago and his co-defendant, a canine alerted on two bags belonging to them. The bag belonging to Lacen-Santiago contained $6,249. A search of his person revealed another $39,000 in his pockets. Lacen-Santiago told the agents he was travelling to St. Martin with the co-defendant. A search of his co-defendant uncovered $38,270 concealed on his person.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alphonso Andrews, Jr.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
